Tattoos
by tokyo126
Summary: Tattoos are not just pieces of body art; it is a glimpse of the holder's heart and soul. Steve wants to commemorate all of his lost loved ones, fallen comrades, and the innocent lives that have been lost due to war. Hope you enjoy R&R :)


**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS OR MARVEL **

Looking back on all his years of unforgettable moments he's shared with all the people in his life. Taking in the good and bad times he feels indebted to those people. But how could he repay those who have fallen, those who are already not with him, countless comrades and lives he had to watch fade away. He went out for a walk to clear his head.

Strolling along in his favorite park something caught his attention. Unknowingly he was drawn to the dim neon open sign. The building was painted black, accompanied by a single design of a black rose encompassing a skull across one wall. When he approached the building close enough to read the sign it said, _Black Rose ink_. He knew then and there that that was what he was going to do in honor of all those who have touched his life in one-way or another. Proudly, he walked through the doors surprised that no one really looked his way. He arranged an appointment with the receptionist and quickly met with the artist that was handling his tattoo.

Immediately the artist recognized him. Trying to compose himself in front of one of his heroes. He excitedly introduced himself and was eager to hear the hero's request. They talked for about 30 minutes, discussing the details of the tattoo. Steve decided on something very simple yet extremely meaningful. The design was going to be place across the top of his back and it was the U.S. army motto in Latin, 'Hanc Defendemus', this we'll defend.

The following day he decided to bend the truth a bit about his outings that day, he didn't want the rest of the team to know his one very personal secret. He headed back to Black Rose Ink and for the next 2 hours he came out feeling like a new man. The artist did a beautiful job on the lettering, making sure to fit to the hero's liking. The artist advised him that his back would be tender for the next couple of days but with his healing ability it should be fully healed by tomorrow.

When arriving at the tower JARVIS greeted him as always by asking him how his outing was. He replied in an upbeat tone. For the rest of the time he went about his business like normal. Paper work and meetings with SHIELD ate up his afternoon and into early evening, but he was able to squeeze in a quick work out with his tattoo giving little to no problems. To end off such a good day he went to pick up his lovely yet deadly girlfriend from the airport.

He wasn't too sure how he was going to tell her about his new 'art piece' he was praying for her to be optimistic about it. He waited patiently in the arrival area holding a very small welcome home sign. It wasn't everyday he got to do this for her, mostly because he was either on a mission himself or he was on one with her. This time around she was assigned an easy solo mission by SHEILD.

In the midst of the crowd that came flooding out of the arrivals gate he spotted his fiery haired girlfriend, he smiled fondly at her as she saw him too. Quickening her pace towards him she immediately dropped her bag and brought him down to give him a loving kiss telling him how much she's missed him. Happily, he accepted her spontaneous greeting. Being able to indulge in the rare moments where they can just be a normal couple without the constant paparazzi or crowding fans. They were just Steve and Natasha.

He grabbed her bags without request to do so, he did it out of courtesy and because he wanted to. She didn't bother stopping him anymore she let him have his little moments of his old fashion ways seep through every now and then, finding it cute and affectionate of him. They walked to the car arm in arm and headed back to the tower. She was greeted in the same warm and friendly manner when they arrived in the tower, which meant that Steve was going to receive the regular pats on the back from the rest of the guys. He braced himself with each on, Bruce first, then Tony, Clint was next, and finally Thor with his overwhelming strength and happiness. Steve's back stung a little like an irritating sunburn. Natasha didn't miss the slight contortion of discomfort on Steve's face.

"Steve are you all right", she placed her hand on the top of his shoulders her fingers lightly brushed over the tattoo.

Steve being Steve, he didn't want her or the others to worry about him. He gave her a lazy grin saying that he's all right. She took his answer not wanting to push the issue.

The team ordered pizza for dinner because it was quick and an easy clean up. Dinner went by quite well; now that everyone was home again they indulged in each other's company ending the night on a good note. Steve and Natasha headed up towards their floor after everything was cleaned up.

"I'm gonna take a shower first Steve can you take my bags to the room pretty please." She said while giving the puppy dog look.

He was more than happy to let her get settled back in. Steve began to change out of his clothes and into his usual sweatpants.

"Steve…you didn't?!"

He quickly turned around fully concerned, "What? What did I do?"

"Steve is that a tattoo on your back…" It hit him; he forgot about his tattoo and didn't put on a shirt.

He slumped his shoulders a bit, "Yes it is…" He looked at her, "It was on a whim, completely spontaneous, I started thinking about the past again and I wanted to do something really personal in honor of them…and that's how this came to be."

"Hold on let me quickly change now I can have a closer look." She said.

He sat on the bed shirtless and all while waiting for Natasha to be done. She crawled up from behind and read the letters in the dim lighting of the room 'Hanc Defendenmus' she knew those words. This we'll defend, the US army motto graced his back. Natasha only thought of how perfect it was from him to get something like that, it was so fitting even the placement of it on his back. Although it never crossed her mind that the America's golden boy would have enough guts to get a tattoo; he never ceased to amaze her.

Without uttering a word, she very gently fanned her fingers across the ink. He shuttered a little at the sudden contact. The pain completely subsided during dinner, which meant his body healed the entire area faster than he thought.

"Natasha, do you like it?" His voice was small almost shy like.

In reply she simple gave him butterfly kisses starting from one end of the tattoo to the other, slowly working her way back up to his neck. She whispered in his ear, "I love it."

Since then his collection has grown with three more additions. He added one star on both of his inner biceps. It was a simple outline of a star. The lines were bold and inscribed in each one were the initials of his children. On the right was J.R. for James Rogers and on the left was T.R. for Tatiana Rogers. Lastly and his most prized one, was the one across the left side of his chest. It was fairly small lettering in Russian; nothing fancy about it but it read Natalia. Representing the love of his life and the mother of his children. He placed Natasha's name over his heart.


End file.
